The song for this chapter is "Hero" by Skillet. I'd recommend watching the music video now; there's also a specific spot in the chapter to listen to it. Remember the last time I had a song with a specific starting point in a chapter? Yeah...

Anyways, who's still wondering what happened to the apprentices that got captured? *smiles innocently* CuriosityWasFramed and Ila_di_Angelo, this is the chapter I asked you about forever ago.

Warnings: blood, death, and destruction ahead

Annika's POV

My mother had always told me that time was like a grand tapestry still being woven. Our lives were single threads of the whole, and we could never appreciate the overarching design from our position. Our lack of ability to see that "big picture" did not lessen its reality any more than the invisibility of the wind made it less dangerous. (Being fire elementals, my people had a special regard for wind and its ability to snuff out a fragile flame or incite an inferno.) All I had known before leaving home was our one corner of life's tapestry. Once I'd set out from our sheltered valley, I had discovered that life had a way of intertwining one's thread with those of others in unexpected ways. What twists, turns, and snags were encountered, how we worked around and handled them, whether we incorporated the unforeseen or tried to exclude it from the picture—all of it affected the image being woven. I wondered what my life had become and what it would be when I was gone. I could feel the shuttle leading my thread on its last trip through the warp. I held no illusions of living long enough to see my home again.

The realms were far bigger than I had thought, looking back. I had seen and learned much beyond what I had hoped. I had made friends and lost friends. I had fought battles and survived them. My tribe would have been proud had they seen me a week ago. Now, I was not so sure.

I had prided myself on my focus and control in a fight. (Both were extremely important in dealing with living flame.) When my friends and I were ambushed a week ago, I had lost both. I closed my eyes and tried to calm my frantic thoughts, letting the bumping of the wagon, the jingle of tack, and the conversations of the soldiers around me fade into the background as I recalled the scene.

~Flashback~

Seven days ago we were in the wrong place at the wrong time. When the charge was called out of the blue, we quickly retreated, until we realized there was nowhere to run to. The Mianite battalion had completely surrounded the blood mage camp; everywhere we looked, mortals were joined in combat. The cries of the wounded, clang of steel, and whoosh of those using flight magic filled the air, punctuated by the occasional explosion of an energy blaster charge.

"Ilanna, get us out of here!" I yelled over the din.

My friend nodded, making the purple tips of her hair bob wildly. After grabbing our hands and focusing intently, she snapped her violet eyes open in panic. Her face drained of its already light color as she said, "I can't teleport! They're blocking it somehow." Her eyes started darting frantically to the fighting that was rapidly being forced back from the camp's perimeter into the lines of collapsed tents.

"Then I suppose we lend our blood brothers a hand," I said resolutely, trying to steady the claustrophobic ender apprentice. I had seen her rounds in Rythian's training ring and knew she could be lethal with a sword. She just had to remember that. Charlie on the other hand had a big heart, but not for fighting. If we could keep the fight from the center of camp, hopefully she could go unnoticed. She hadn't even brought a weapon with her on our errand today. "Charlie, stay out of sight. Ilanna, let's go." I pulled my goggles down to protect my eyes and started running down one line of tents, Ilanna only a few seconds behind me with her obsidian sword drawn.

I fell into a practiced rhythm of dodging and burning, tempering my flames to prevent collateral damage. Even an elemental could be overwhelmed by too large a blaze, as was evidenced by my scarred hands. This continued until a familiar cry registered in my brain, snapping my attention back behind me. Ilanna and I had helped maintain the battle line on our side, but the line behind us had collapsed almost to the camp center. That was where I saw Michael fall.

A tall figure in full blood mage armor stood over him with a bloodied black katana. He stood there only a moment before zipping across the field faster than I could blink. Mianite's men brought a blood mage with them? I had no time for further thought as I saw Charlie race across the open ground to Michael, who was staggering to his feet while holding a hand feebly to the bleeding wound in his side. I heard the twang of a crossbow being fired but did not have time to call a warning. The bolt had been aimed to finish the proud leader of the rebel blood mages, but it hit Charlie instead as she stepped in front of him to heal his wound. She never even saw the bolt that killed her. Both she and Michael toppled to ground, and I wondered if it had not found its mark still.

All my decades of training flew out the window at that point. The flames wrapped around my arms died in an instant and I raised my goggles, unable to believe what I'd just seen. I stood frozen in shock, staring at the two unmoving forms. The battle surged around me, becoming more and more one-sided by the second. When two soldiers shoved me to the ground, I gave them no resistance. I did not register the cuffs being fixed to my wrists that suppressed my magic or Ilanna's cries for help as she too was cornered and disarmed.

In a haze, I recalled being roughly led from the battlefield and being made to sit beside Ilanna while we awaited our fate. Ilanna whispered, "Where's Charlie? Did she get away?"

I could only shake my head and stare at the dark blood soaking into the ground before me. I looked up when I heard my friend draw a sharp breath. I spotted the reason for it right away. A young soldier—he couldn't have been a year older than Kay—carried Charlie's body towards a mound of the deceased at one end of the clearing. I vaguely noted an expression akin to grief cross his features as he gently laid her at the base of the pile. He stood there for a moment before drawing a crossbow from a holster on his back and tossing it too onto the pile.

"Well, what do we have here?" A deep voice asked evenly. My gaze was forced from Charlie's resting place to the speaker by a cold, gauntleted hand grasping my chin. I stared blankly at the being before me. One glowing, pale grey eye and one cybernetic red eye bored into mine for a few moments before he released my chin and looked away to speak to one of the commanders, "Take these two to Entropy. It's been a while since we had a fire or ender wizard."

As he spoke, I noted the business suit the man wore, completely untouched by the carnage around him, and the white hair curling atop his head and around his ears. I also realized that he wore no gauntlet but had an entirely mechanical arm. Somewhere in my shell-shocked mind I connected the dots. Mianite.

The soldiers set up their own camp shortly after, as it was getting late, and built a bonfire for the fallen that burned long into the night. An infirmary or sorts was also set up at the tree line. Ilanna and I—still cuffed—were tied to a tree for the night with three guards posted nearby. Neither of us slept.

Six days ago, we had been forced to march into the forest at crossbow point. I still felt numb. Ilanna tried to convince me that the Fyre wizards would come to rescue us; she had told Charlie and I about them being alive when she came to retrieve us the day before. I didn't believe her but said nothing to dissuade her from her hope.

Five days ago, we reached the edge of the forest to find a set of covered wagons and a smaller contingent with horses waiting for us. We were loaded into one wagon and our cuffs attached to locks set in the left bench. Two guards sat across from us, crossbows at the ready. As the forest dropped out of sight behind us, Ilanna stopped talking of rescue.

Four days ago, one of the wagons broke a wheel in a pothole. After about an hour of cursing and arguing amongst the guards, the prisoners were split among the other wagons, including ours. I snapped out of my zombie-like state when I saw Michael being hoisted into our wagon. He looked pale as death, but he was there. Even the soldiers recognized he was in bad shape. They let him lie on the floor between the two rows of benches rather than force him to sit. To make up for it, both his hands and feet were shackled. I finally fell asleep to the pound of horse hooves on packed dirt and the creak of the wagon.

Three days ago, we reached a garrison with heavily fortified concrete walls. Most of the prisoners and troops disembarked there. Michael, Ilanna, and I were briefly left untended in our wagon as the others were unloaded. I quickly whispered, "Michael, are you okay? I saw you fall."

Michael had grimaced and quipped, "I've been better. Charlie healed me a little before..." His voice trailed off. He shook his head weakly and asked, "Either of you get hurt?"

"No," Ilanna answered.

Michael nodded and briefly grinned. "That's good. I didn't realize Mianite was so offended by us that he'd send his new champion to fight," He said while absentmindedly running a hand over his side. The skin I could see through the tear in his stained tunic was an unnatural grey.

"Champion?" Ilanna asked.

"Yeah. Mianite only trusts a champion with a kikoku. 'The weapon that slays mortal and god alike' he called it; he did have a flare for the dramatic on occasion. I didn't realize they hurt so bad; almost makes me wish Jeriah had kept his when he quit."

"That black katana..." I ventured.

Michael nodded. "That's the one."

"But if it can kill gods, how are you alive?" Ilanna asked, clearly confused.

"Charlie's magic bought me some time, but it would take a god's intervention to save me. I'd guess I have another two or three days at most. On the upside, I won't get to see the inside of Entropy." Realizing as soon as the words left his mouth how tactless they were, he quickly apologized.

"Don't worry about it," I interrupted. "We don't plan on going to Entropy either."

Ilanna gave me a look that clearly asked "And how do we plan to do that?!" I remained silent, as two new guards hopped up into the wagon to take the seats across from us. I leaned my head against the tarp behind me and closed my eyes as we started moving again. How am I going to do that?

Two days ago, the morning was met with a pall of smoke hanging high over everything. A fire must have started somewhere in the night—a big one by the looks of it. The smoke had the horses apprehensive of every movement and jumpy. I heard several distressed brays and the stomping of hooves as the ten or so soldiers who guarded our lone wagon struggled to hitch the team of chestnuts. The soldiers were concerned by the smoke as well. I was indifferent. I could not feel the fire. So I knew it must be many leagues away. If it drew close enough, I could use it to fuel my magic. Until then I still had a plan to work out.

As evening drew on, I was brought from my thoughts by happy shouting ahead of us. I felt the wagon roll to a stop as more voices joined the first. We had met another regiment returning home. We must have been traveling to the same place, because I heard the score of new voices fall in around the wagon. One of our guards exited the wagon to make room for an injured comrade who had a bandage completely wrapping one leg. I could tell by the smell it was a bad burn. Short-lived pity flitted through me. Another person was handed up into the wagon after him, and I almost volunteered to get out and walk. The bloodied brute with graying brown hair was loaded next. He appeared injured as well, though his injuries were restricted to a rough bandage around one bicep as well as a broken nose and split lip. He was cursing up a storm and thrashing against his cuffs—which were the same make as the magic dampening ones I and my friends sported—as two guards practically tossed him inside. One of the men took great pleasure in landing a solid punch to the side of the prisoner's head, stunning him long enough for the other to connect his cuffs to the lock on the bench next to me. Oh joy. The first soldier sneered, revealing a broken tooth, before leaping back down out of the wagon. I noted that the other soldier had a black eye before he too disappeared.

I frowned as we lurched into motion again. The plan I had begun to come up with would not work with this many soldiers. It barely would have worked with our ten. I sighed, mentally scrapping it. Back to square one.

Michael and the burned man winced and grit their teeth at every bump and jostle of the cart along the road, but both were too proud to voice their pain. Michael's skin was looking a bit greyer today, and I knew he'd been telling the truth about not having much time left. Whatever magic was worked into a kikoku, it did its job well.

When I did have a plan, I knew he'd help—if he was still able to. Ilanna would help as well. This newcomer beside me I wasn't so sure of. He'd settled into a sullen silence after recovering from his beating and had been observing his fellow prisoners for a few hours now, as I had him. He seemed particularly fascinated with Michael. That night when we stopped early—our captors had been caught off guard by an unexpected blood moon—and our guard helped his fellow out of the wagon, the man had a quick discussion with Michael. It turned out they had met before through the Black Market, and the man's name was Steve. Michael introduced us and vouched for Steve, but I wasn't so easily swayed from my distrust of him.

My opinion did not improve any when he mentioned he was an acolyte. "You're the one who burned that guard," I observed coolly. A hothead with fire magic, how stereotypical. He's a prime example of how we got a bad name. He sensed my displeasure and puffed his chest out as if he were about to give a scripted lecture about respecting my elders. "You have no respect for your fire magic, do you? You acolytes never do. Your god grants you immunity to the consequences of your rashness, though all around you must pay for it." I pulled slightly on my cuffs, and he noticed the burns showing above my gloves for the first time.

He seemed a bit stunned by my presumption and my scars but quickly found his pride again and asked, "What do you know of fire, lass?"

"I trained for more than a century before I was let loose into the world I might burn down," I informed him, keeping my anger barely in check. "Starting a fire is easy; a toddler in my clan can set a forest ablaze. Have you ever tried to put out a fire or save a life from it? That is power."

That seemed to stop him. I didn't get to hear if he came up with a snide reply, because our guard peered back into the wagon then. He had been listening to us. I recognized him then as the young man who had carried Charlie's body to the pyre. He offered a half grin before saying sincerely, "If only more shared your view, madam, Ruxomar might not be in such a mess."

Yesterday, we were all startled from our slumber by the ground reverberating with an explosion. I sensed the fire immediately. It was too far away to be any real help, but it rekindled my hope. The soldiers broke camp in a rush, unsettled by what I overheard to be a meteorite striking so close to their campsite. More of the flaming space rocks fell throughout the day, some far away and some close enough that I could draw on their power to the point where I briefly formed a flickering flame in my hand. Of course, I snuffed it immediately. No need for my captors to know I might be able to escape. I just had to wait for another one to land nearby. Then I could melt these cuffs clean off. I did not look forward to testing the fire protection charm Matt had put on my gloves, but it would be worth it.

This morning I overheard one of the soldiers saying we were only a day or two out from the prison, depending on road conditions after the earthquakes and meteors. I was filled with anticipation and a less welcome feeling—fear—as I realized this might be my last chance to get us out of here. My overactive senses noted every change in the wind, every step of a soldier or horse outside, every meteor that continued to fall with increasing frequency. Would there be an opportunity to escape? Would I mess something up and doom us all to rot and be tortured in Entropy? Well, most of us. Michael was looking almost the same shade of grey as the steel cuffs we wore and he had slept through all the fuss this morning. Even if he reached Entropy, he wouldn't be there long.

~End Flashback~

(Start song here)

I opened my eyes and stared at the tarp on the far side of our wagon as I concentrated on drawing energy from the closest fires. If the soldiers noted that any fresh crater we passed was devoid of flame, they did not mention it. The horses dragging our wagon down the road began to flick their ears and tails nervously, sensing that something was amiss. At first I worried that I was the cause with my subtle fire magic, but I was proved wrong by an ear shattering explosion far overhead. I had been tracking a rather large meteor's presence on its way down before disregarding it; it had been on a course to miss us by miles. In sudden alarm, I realized it was that same meteor, and now several of the fragments from the explosion were on a collision course for us. I hadn't gathered as much power as I would have liked, but I couldn't wait now. The metal around my wrists started glowing from the heat I poured into them as the first rock hit close enough to throw jagged bits of debris through the wagon's cover around us.

The guards went into panic mode as more missiles shook the terrain. The healthy guard in our wagon hopped out of the back to help calm the terrified horses and check for injuries. Steve glanced over at me and raised his bushy eyebrows, seeing I had already begun to soften the metal restraining me. He wasn't able to do the same as an acolyte. One of the few upsides to being an elemental was our magic—while restricted to one type—was much more potent than the other magical disciplines.

The enchantment on the cuffs gave out before the metal did, and roaring flames erupted in a ring around the wagon as my full power surged back to the fore. Tears pricked my eyes and my jaw hurt at how tightly I clenched my teeth as I gave one final yank on my restraints, breaking them and the lock on the bench apart. I was free.

I yanked off my gloves, silently thankful for Matt's thoughtfulness, and noted the fresh, red burns I'd received. They would have been immeasurably worse if my mentor had given me a more traditional yuletide present. I quickly turned to Ilanna and more carefully melted the lock mechanism on her cuffs with a tiny white hot flame akin to a welding torch. When the injured guard on the bench across from us reached for his sword, I had to attack. Unlike Steve, I insured he wouldn't suffer a slow, painful death from infection. By the time I had Ilanna's hands free, I could hear the soldiers surrounding my fire ring, trying to find a way through.

The pain searing into my wrists was beginning to get to me, and I let Ilanna free the others. She gladly teleported their restraints away and helped Michael sit up. I pointedly ignored Steve and Michael gawking at the skin of my hands which I knew looked like it had been melted where it wasn't horribly scarred.

"Alright, lass, what's our next move?" Steve asked, breaking his eyes away from my hands. He did not seem so condescending now, I noted with a distant satisfaction. "I don't suppose you could teleport us all out?"

I had no such abilities to offer, and teleporting four people would be a bit much for Ilanna. I shook my head to save her having to admit as much. "No, but Ilanna can get you and Michael out of here. Ilanna, could you reach the place we camped last night? That'll give you a good head start. I'll blast my way out and..."

I was interrupted by a flash of light outside the wagon that nearly blinded me. Wait, last time I saw that was at the ambush.

"No!" Ilanna screamed in frustration. "Whatever that was, it's blocking my teleportation magic again."

"Looks like you'll be running. That thing has to have a range. Once you get outside it, you should be able to teleport to safety," Michael said with a resigned grin. He knew he wasn't going to be escaping. "I'll hold them off as long as I can."

"We 'ave to fight our way past these dingoes before anyone goes anywhere," Steve pointed out, looking to where the troops were gathering on the far side of the flames.

Ilanna didn't have her sword or Michael his sigils, though Michael was now muttering some incantation under his breath. It looks like this is up to us. "Well then, let's teach them a healthy fear of fire, mate." Drat, I think his accent is rubbing off on me.

Steve smiled wide at that suggestion, and a wicked light sparked in his eyes. His love of fighting and destruction made it easy to tell which god he served. "Aye. That we shall."

The guards had organized enough to start bringing buckets of water up to the road from the stream running in a ditch alongside it. They were quite surprised when they dumped the first container of water only to have their four prisoners leap across the opening they created in the firewall. Once outside the ring, Steve and I wasted no time in blasting away. I aimed mostly to terrorize the horses. They caused more damage and confusion than I could once they were scared out of their minds. Steve took advantage of the chaos I created to take out our enemies. Steve fought like a demon—or a wallaby with its tail on fire as he would say. He was all over the place maximizing destruction, but not always as careful as might be warranted. There would be a few wildfires for someone to deal with later.

Ilanna and Michael picked up swords the soldiers closest to us no longer needed and started fighting too. Michael seemed to be holding up well, all things considered. He wasn't moving as fast as he should, but he more than made up for it with ferocity borne of desperation. It warmed my heart when I realized that desperation was for our sakes rather than his own.

We had nearly broken through the mass of soldiers when I heard an all too familiar heart stopping twang behind me. I shoved Ilanna as hard as I could to get her clear and screamed as a bolt tore through my left thigh a few inches above my knee. I dropped like a rock, clutching at the bleeding wound. I felt strong, calloused hands lifting me under my arms as I grit my teeth and cauterized the injury, which hurt even worse. I had never been a fan of the scent of burning flesh, and the smell now turned my stomach. At least I wouldn't bleed to death. I faintly thought the soldiers must have had orders to keep us alive if they had been aiming so low. The archer could have as easily hit a lung or my heart.

I blinked black spots from my eyes and looked up to see Steve put my arm around his broad shoulders. "Easy there, lass. Can ya walk?" I attempted to put weight on my bad leg but couldn't even straighten it without more spots dancing across my vision. Steve cursed under his breath when I shook my head.

Seeing Ilanna and Michael holding a few guards at bay while Steve checked on me, I whispered, "Get Ilanna out of here. Don't let her come back for me. Have her tell Matt..." Here I paused to swallow back emotion. "Tell Matt his gift came in handy, after all." He was always making that joke, I thought with a grin. Steve gave me a serious nod. "Help me over to that tree," I asked, motioning to a bent and lonely pine tree growing next to the road.

I leaned against the trunk and pulled my arm free. Looking back over the fight, I drew a shaky breath. "Go."

"Farewell, master wizard," Steve said with a tip of an imaginary hat. He yelled to Ilanna, and they both took off away from the road. I could hear Ilanna ask where I was as they fled. "She wants us out of the way for some big spell; she'll be right behind us."

I quickly raised a wall of flame behind them to prevent the soldiers giving chase—or Ilanna returning. Michael fell into position beside my tree and gave me a sorrowful look. "Don't let them take us alive?" I asked.

"Never," He confirmed with a nod, firelight reflecting in his dull eyes. Whatever blood magic he'd used earlier had nearly drained him. His gaze seemed unfocused as he looked back out over the soldiers. Twitching his sword to the left, he said, "I'll take this half. You got the rest?"

I nodded, pulling my goggles down over my eyes. "It's been a good run, friend." Maybe my people would be proud of me after all, I thought to myself as I manipulated the wall of fire behind my tree into a ring enclosing us and Mianite's men. No one would be leaving this fight.

As I said on tumblr once, I appear to have a tendency to write longer chapters if I'm going to be killing off a character in them. This is partially due to me breaking my heart a little when I do. The more chapters a character has appeared in, the more and more attached I've gotten to them and the more backstory I've invented for them—even if it's never explicitly stated in story. (Matt giving Annika a pair of fire protection gloves for Christmas one year was an example. Those two were good friends, though Annika would have liked them to eventually be more. Matt was oblivious.) I do not kill a character lightly; their death must mean something or serve some purpose for the greater story.

As for Annika's attitude regarding injuring versus killing enemies, I refer you to the philosophy of self defense usually applied to firearms. You ONLY use a lethal weapon if someone is in mortal danger, and if someone is in mortal danger, you aim to kill, not injure. An injured enemy may still try to kill you and may succeed. In Annika's case, a wounded soldier could still easily fire a crossbow at her or one of the others. Also, with Annika's fire magic, a severe burn that doesn't kill the target immediately is very likely to become infected and kill the burn victim in a slow, painful way. She is not cruel. Just felt I should clarify that. :)

I may be a little late replying to all of your comments today. I'm going car hunting. Yay? My 1st car had a bunch of problems and finally got totaled in a really bad hail storm 2-3 weeks back. (My neighbor kept a piece of hail in her freezer that was seriously the size of a baseball. O.o) Wish me luck. *hopes that I don't get eaten alive by car salesmen*